Bare Necessities

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“Not that, you ignorant bimbos. I mean the book The Age of Innocence. Edith Wharton’s novel about upper-class New Yorkers in the late eighteen hundreds?” Jinx heaved a sigh of exasperation. Her grad school tuition in literature at Chicago University was very expensive, just like Jinx. By dancing at Frisky’s, she made more than her professors and had no student debt, as well.

“It was a movie, too,” Bridget volunteered. “Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder. Lotsa cool coshtumes.”

Sugar nodded. “Oh, right! His character was having an affair with Michelle even though she was his girlfriend Winona’s cousin. Winona’s character took him back.”

“I had a guy do the same exact thing, except it was my sister he was banging,” Electra offered. “Only I didn’t take either of them back.”

Silence fell over the room. Electra didn’t look particularly upset, though.

“Anyway,” Jinx said, clearing her throat, “think corsets. Think stockings. Think crotchless drawers.”

“They had those back then?” Electra looked impressed. “Who woulda thought?”

Jinx hopped up and flipped through Bridget’s clothes rack. Sugar came over to the futon and unclipped the barrette on the back of Bridget’s head. “Let’s see this clump of hair.”

“Hey!” Bridget batted her hand away. Sure, her hair was messy. But if people wanted to visit at 3:00 a.m., they took their chances.

Sugar ignored her and rubbed a few strands between her fingers. “It’s actually in pretty good shape. When was the last time you had a deep conditioning treatment?”

“Um, never. Except for when my hair got really fried in the summer and I put mayonnaise on it.”

She shuddered. “Here in the big, bad city, you can actually buy conditioner that doesn’t make you smell like an egg-salad sandwich. But for now, you really need some color.”

Bridget sighed. “I bought a box of highlights but haven’t put them in yet.” She pulled herself off the futon and dug the hair-color box from the linen closet.

While Sugar examined the box, Bridget gave a jaw-cracking yawn. “Maybe some other time. I’ve only had a few hours’ sleep….”

Jinx clattered the hangers and turned to her. “I can understand if you don’t want that guy Adam. He acted really wimpy when I cracked my whip and kicked him in the ass. Never even tried to hit me or anything.”

Bridget straightened from her slouch, her sleepiness gone. “He is not wimpy! He would never harm a woman, that’s all.”

Sugar waved the highlights box. “Do you want him enough to put some effort into it? If you sit back and wait for good things to happen to you, you’ll be waiting a long time.”

“And you think highlights and corsets will do the job? It seems so superficial.” As soon as she said it, she felt foolish and a little sad. These three women spent tons of time and money on costumes and cosmetic improvements.

The dancers exchanged glances. Finally, Electra sat next to Bridget and patted her hand. “It’s not so much about how you look to other people. It’s how you feel to yourself. The girls and I, we use our hairstyles and outfits to tap into that small part of our inner selves that we’re willing to share with the patrons when we dance. I wear the warrior-girl outfits because I’m a jock, Jinx wears the bondage stuff because she likes to boss men around and Sugar wears those giant boobs because she likes to be the absolute center of attention and a real stage hog.”

Sugar gave her a smug look. “And I have one implant paid off already.”

Electra gave her an arch look. “I thought you were looking a bit lopsided.” She laughed as the other dancer stared at her chest in dismay.